Draco Malfoy and the Abruptly Absent Apple
by dragonflybeach
Summary: The eighth year dorm has been invaded by nargles. Written for the Actor Quote Based Competition.


"Filchley!" a male voice bellowed down the stairs. "Why did you take my apple?"

"Malfoy, I'm not going to answer you if you don't address me by my name!" Justin repeated for the eleventh time that week.

"So you did take my apple!" Draco crowed triumphantly, stomping into the common room.

"No, I did not take your apple!" Justin shouted back, then huffed and stalked from the room as he realized that he had, yet again, answered in spite of being called Filchley.

"What are you on about now?" Hannah sighed, now accustomed to her role as referee.

"I started eating an apple." Draco gestured wildly. "I put it down. It's gone! There is an apple stealer in my room!"

"Malfoy, _no one_ goes in your room." Hermione drawled, looking up from her homework in the corner.

It was true. The other returning eighth year male students, Theo Nott, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Michael Corner, had come to the conclusion during the first week of school that the most satisfactory sleeping arrangement was the six of them in one room and Draco Malfoy in the other.

Seamus and Dean came through the portrait hole at that moment.

"Finnigan, did you blow it up?" Draco demanded.

"Did you hear a kaboom?" Dean snickered.

"What did he blow up?" Lisa Turpin asked, coming in behind them.

"Anything that gets near him." Ginny teased from the corner where she studied with Hermione, Padma, and Luna.

"Nothing!" Seamus protested. "I haven't blown up anything today! Oh wait. I haven't blown up anything since breakfast!"

"I suspect nargles." Luna stage whispered.

"Of course you would." Draco rolled his eyes.

Luna stood gracefully and crossed the room. "Didn't you lose your good quill last week, and one of your cufflinks a few days before that?" She asked, tilting her head as she looked up at him.

"Yes, and whichever one of you tossers took them had better return them before we leave for Christmas break on Friday!" Draco threatened the room at large.

The other occupants of the room looked at one another, shrugged, and went on with what they were doing.

"We should examine the crime scene." Luna suggested.

"I never thought I would say this, but you're the only one showing a reasonable amount of sense in this place, Lovegood." Draco huffed, and then turned to lead the way to his room.

Halfway up the stairs he turned to her. "You're not an eighth year! Why are you even here? Why are you _always_ here?"

Luna shrugged. "Ginny is here with Hermione a lot, so I come with Ginny. Besides, Padma often needs cheering. She's so very lonely since her sister died."

Draco nodded, as he couldn't really argue with that statement, and continued up the stairs.

His room was the second closest to the top of the steps, off a landing leading to the five dorm rooms.

A sprig of mistletoe hung at the top of the steps. Luna craned her neck to peer at it as she passed under.

"That actually explains a lot." She observed.

"Whatever." Draco snorted, opening the door to his room.

His potions textbook lay open on the bed.

"Right there!" He pointed to a spot on the nightstand. "I was on my bed, studying. I took a bite of my apple, only one bite, mind you, and then I put it on my nightstand while I went to the cupboard to get a parchment. When I came back, the apple was gone! Damned thief didn't take anything else!"

"Did you want them to take something else?" She asked curiously.

"No!" he barked.

She walked over and bent to examine the nightstand closely.

"There. Nargle footprints." She pointed to the spot where the apple had been.

"Where?" He demanded.

"Right there. Those tiny spots in the dust." She continued to point.

Draco swiped his hand across the surface of the nightstand. "There's no dust there!"

"There's not now. You've wiped it off." Luna informed him.

"There wasn't any there to begin with!" He insisted.

"Well, we shall never know, will we?" She looked around the room.

"What are you looking for?" He frowned.

"Other signs the nargles have been here. Oh, there's one." She knelt to examine a small white berry on the floor.

"That's it!" He threw up his hands. "My father will hear about this! Obviously the house elves are shirking their duties, if my room is this filthy! Dust, and mistletoe berries in the floor?"

"Don't be upset with the house elves." She shook her head. "This is proof the nargles are the ones stealing your things. You see, they live in the mistletoe. So apparently they dropped a berry when they were in here taking your apple."

"Why are they taking my stuff and no one else's things?" He snapped.

"They probably have taken other things. It's just that no one has noticed yet. Or maybe they just thought they have misplaced the missing object." Luna smiled. "Nargles usually take small, insignificant items that are often thought to be simply lost."

He nodded, seeming to consider her statement. "Why are they taking our things? And what can we do to make them stop?"

"I suspect that the nargles are disappointed that no one is stopping to kiss under their mistletoe." Luna answered sadly.

"I have no idea who put it there, or why." Draco shook his head. "It's not like there are any couples among the eighth years."

"Padma and Dean would make an adorable couple, if they would only stop being too shy to admit they fancy one another." Luna observed. "The same goes for Theo and Terry."

"Eww." Draco made a face. "So what are you saying? That we should convince people to kiss under the mistletoe so the nargles will stop stealing our things?"

"It would probably be easier if we just kissed first, so everyone else would get the idea." Luna suggested. "After all, feelings of good will are often spread through example."

"You're serious?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

Luna simply nodded.

"Come on, then." He sighed, opening the door into the hall.

He stopped under the mistletoe and held out a hand to her. She walked up to press against him, ever so slightly, tipping her head back. He lowered his head to her, cupping the back of her neck with his hand, until his mouth brushed hers gently. He probed gently until her lips parted to allow his tongue entrance. He kissed her until a catcall from the bottom of the stairs startled both of them, causing them to jump apart guiltily.

"Well, is that it then?" He asked.

"I'm sure the nargles appreciated it." She answered, seeming slightly breathless and dazed. "But we should probably repeat it several times, just to make them happy."

He nodded. "You'll come back later, then?"

"Of course." She smiled, and gracefully descended the stairs.

She crossed the room, leaving through the portrait hole, even as Ginny called out that Luna was forgetting her things.

She skipped down the hall with a smile on her face. She rounded the turn in the corridor, pulled an apple from her pocket, took a bite, and thought about how the nargles could return the cufflink.

* * *

A/N - for everyone who's asked, the actor quote was the part about the apple being gone and there was an apple stealer in his room.


End file.
